


it's the little things

by orphan_account



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Drabble, M/M, words of warning: it starts fluffy but ends angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23985619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Donghyuk recollects moments of Mark loving him.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Kudos: 15





	it's the little things

When Mark laughs at his joke.

When Mark buys him lunch or an afternoon coffee after they both have a long day.

Everytime Mark is willing to chat with him deep into the dead of the night, talking about nonsense and sharing obscure memes they found on Instagram that reminds them of each other. 

When he offers Donghyuk a gum after he takes one for himself.

When Mark remembers things that he’s currently obsessed with. Food, drink, snacks, games, tv series, movies. Colours. Words. Tunes. And also when he remembers random shit Donghyuk said three, five, ten years ago that he’d casually reference in their conversation. 

When every year Mark gets him a birthday present that’s a perfect blend of what he likes and what he needs.

When he’s feeling down and Mark offers to lend an ear to listen to his woes. Donghyuk never actually goes around to tell him what really bothers him because 8 times out of 10, his melancholia is caused by Mark himself, but what counts is the thought behind it. The knowledge that Mark would always be there when he needs him. 

When they fight, and Mark returns to him with a shy non-apology.  _ Let’s go have some dinner,  _ he’ll say, in which he’ll use the opportunity to try his best in making Donghyuk smile because his smile is the beaming beacon signifying that everything’s back to being alright. 

When Mark grows flustered everytime Donghyuk pulls him into a hug but he tries his best to fight the giggles so he can reciprocate it.

When Mark listens to what he’s talking about and nods, and smiles, and comments, at the right time. Because then he listens, doesn’t he? He listens and he remembers and even if he didn’t notice it, even if he never consciously tries to do it, he’s always known how to apply the knowledge of Donghyuk that he’s gathered over the years to perfectly handle whatever situation they found themselves in. 

**  
  
  
**

But his favourite will always be when they spend their Fridays lazily lounging in his house. Takeaway pizza, chinese food, fried chicken or a simple cold sandwich and chips from the convenience store that they will then devour on Donghyuk’s bed with the accompanying side of a carton of beer. Mindless, 80s pulp movies playing on his laptop as they talk to each other about their week. 

The care Mark takes to not drop even one crumb or a speckle of sauce on his bedsheet, how he always gives Donghyuk his bottle with the cap already popped off. How he would make sure to angle the laptop so that it’s tilted more towards Donghyuk, even if that means he won’t be able to see the movie clearly due to the anti glare sheet he had glued onto the display screen. 

Pure attentiveness. Pure affection, even if Mark never seems to realise that  _ that’s  _ how the thoughtful actions he does came across as. 

Donghyuk acknowledges that they are nice. They are really, really nice. 

But when Mark is full, and buzzed up from the alcohol, tired from his week and the late night they always ended up having, laying back on the cliff of pillows Donghyuk set up against the board of his bed,  _ that  _ would have to be his favourite moment. 

He would wait until Mark’s slightly dozed off, but not completely. Just enough that he’s still barely aware of his surroundings but not too much that he’ll remember it the next time he wakes up. In the sweet precipice between consciousness and a swift kitten nap, Donghyuk would ask him, “do you love me?”

And when he gets the moment just right, Mark would answer back, “of course I do.”

To be fair, his success rate is only a mere 10%. 1 successful response for every 10 tries. The rest of the time he’d usually waited too late that Mark already fell asleep, or asked too early that he had to quickly scramble up a nonsensical question to throw Mark off his scent. 

But when he gets it correctly, it’s wonderful. 

He gets to see a small, drowsy smile grow on Mark’s lips as he goes to wiggle his head to burrow deeper into the soft pillows. 

It’s only happened twice since the first time he started doing this ritual. He won’t lie and say that the uncertainty isn’t killing him. It does. The possibility that one night he won’t be able to find a lie convincing or quick enough that Mark catches on to his devices which would most likely lead to him storming out of his apartment in what Donghyuk feared would be blatant disgust.

Because at the end of the day, they’re just friends, aren’t they? Nothing more.

But he can’t stop doing it. Even with the littering of unsaid declarations of care and affection presented so gracefully to him by Mark, Donghyuk can’t stop taking a gamble on their age-old friendship for a little verbal, audible declaration that he can then record and store securely within his memory. Securing his belief in a place that he can easily access everytime he needs a reminder that even if it’s different from his, Mark  _ does _ .

And for him, that alone is more than enough.

**  
  
  
**

The moments that make Donghyuk know Mark loves him?

When he looks into his eyes and even in darkness, sees stars live within them.

**Author's Note:**

> ok so here's the T: i watched the 'to you' clips and just thought 'oh... to be loved by mark lee!' and then couldn't sleep afterwards and just... vomited this. 
> 
> Idk maybe the situation spoke to me LMAO but that video really sent me into Yearning Hour: Midnight to Matinee, Half Price, Free Popcorn and Soda. 
> 
> Isn't love just wonderful? There are so many different types of it and I want to feel them all ;;
> 
> ps: hmu on twitter [@moon__soil](https://twitter.com/moon__soil)


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